The Cook Executive Search Family Business Practice is focused on identifying and recruiting business professionals with a track record of successfully building high-performing teams and driving operational excellence within family-owned businesses.
Consultant Expertise:
Our consultants possess years of experience working with closely held and family-owned businesses and deeply understand the unique issues faced with recruiting and hiring non-family executives. While finding the right functional experience and qualifications is important, there is nothing more demanding and critical than identifying executives who match up to values and beliefs of the family business.
Strategic Approach:
Gaining an appreciation for our clients' culture is a major step towards conducting a successful search. By asking the right questions, we take a hands-on approach to every search to fully comprehend the culture, values and beliefs within the organization. There is nothing more important to the family business than the assurance that the executives uphold the integrity and mission of the organization.
Non-Family Executives
Over the years, Cook Associates has acquired a deep knowledge of the talent issues facing family businesses and also knows that the criteria for success in a family business is often very different from other forms of business ownership.
The non-family executive tends to fail on a much more frequent basis than their counterparts in non-family controlled businesses. To address this, our search process involves significant up-front time with family members, senior executive team members and Directors, to understand your business history, the issues you face today, what success looks like and what issues are important to the family and its' constituents. Your company culture is paramount to defining which candidates are worthy of presenting to you in every search we conduct. In addition, the time we spend getting to know our candidates, both professionally and personally, results in a more educated candidate and a much higher probability for success.
Family Board of Directors
As business issues become increasingly complex and global in scope, more family businesses are seeing the benefits of a diverse Board of Directors. In our experience, the majority of family businesses have always considered their board to be a family meeting around the kitchen table. Today, progressive family businesses see the tremendous benefits of outside non-family board members who can bring outside ideas and perspective, experience and relationships to benefit their business.
With significant experience recruiting at the highest levels in an organization, we have a strong network of contacts and relationships willing and able to provide board-level leadership for your family organization.